4/15/08

Prophets of Arrogance: Critiquing The New Earth Movement, Pt. 2

As I noted in my previous post on this series, Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle are nothing but pluralistic, false-prophets. Neither of them have qualified religion, theology or Bible degrees. They are both amateur spiritualists who want to seem knowledgeable and make a quick buck. Other than not having a clue about Buddhism or Christianity, which they are bent on mixing, they are just incredibly arrogant. Yet, this is another thing that I think makes their program sell.

What do I mean when I say they are arrogant? Well, actually, they are arrogant in the same way that pepole like the "Left Behind" guys and John Hagee are arrogant. With the "Left Behind" guys and Hagee, you have a group of people who take an ancient document, the Bible, and attempt to make it say all kinds of things about the 21st century west that it never intended to. They read Revelation like it was written for those living in America today, not those living in the 1st century Mediterranean. I think this is so arrogant and "me centered"; their mentality is "the Bible was written to me, for me and about me and my era".

Interestingly, Winfrey and Tolle have done the same exact thing. Here is a quote from the "New Earth" book, under a sub-titled section "A New Heaven and A New Earth": "The inspiration for the title of this book came from a Bible prophecy that seems more applicable now than at any other time in human history" (18). How arrogant is this?!!!! Yet, many illiterate and self-subsumed Christians today will read this and think "Yes, it is all about me, it is all about right now." What Winfrey and Tolle have done is to cater to the apocalyptic crowds but instead of being apocalyptic, instead of preaching about an end-time war (thankfully, they're not doing that!!!), they have turned the tables and talked about the apex of spirituality being reached.

Here is a quote from the same sub-section mentioned above: "It occurs in both the Old and the New Testament and speaks of the collapse of the existing world order and the arising of 'a new heaven and a new earth'. We need to understand here that heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness. This is the esoteric meaning of the word, and this is also its meaning in the teachings of Jesus. Earth, on the other hand, is the outer manifestation in form, which is always a reflection of the inner. Collective human consciousness and life on our planet are intrinsically connected. 'A new heaven' is the emergence of a transformed state of human consciousness, and 'a new earth' is its reflection in the physical realm" (18).

Anyone with biblical knowledge can see right through the psychologizing and spiritualizing that is taking place here. Jesus was not using a Jungian type of symbolization in his teaching. No, heaven didn't mean the inner conscience for Jesus and no, earth didn't mean the physical realm reflecting the inner. This is simply fabricated and untrue!!! This is way off. Sadly, many Christians are not wise enough to catch it. (By the way, this has been done a number of times throughout history by persons; Winfrey and Tolle are not the first to try it.)

Anyway, I just wanted to point out the sheer arrogance, which is built on pure biblical ignorance, that runs rampant throughout the "New Earth" book and its movement. When we read the Bible, we must realize that it was not prophesying about us today; it was talking about people in its own time. We must keep it in that context before ever extracting its implications and points of application for ourselves. Don't buy into all of the hokey pscyhologizing and stupid lies. Worst of all, perhaps, don't subscribe to the sheer arrogance these two put out. If you really want to follow in Jesus' footsteps, do what the apostle Paul said and do not think of yourself more highly than you ought but rather, in professing Christ, take on the nature and practices of a servant. Don't be swayed!